31 December 2013

My Christmas (or Vianoce in Slovak and Vánoce in Czech)
started way way back at the beginning of December, when I started thinking
about Christmas baking, decorating my room and so on.

It was the first year that I really tried to bake my
own traditional Christmas biscuits. Thanks to my Czech Grandmother’s recipes, I more or less
succeeded. I especially enjoyed cutting out various shapes and all the
decorating - sticking biscuits together by cranberry jam, covering them with
melted chocolate and positioning a nut on the chocolate so that they look
pretty. The special Christmas cookie box was filling up nicely.

Of course,
many of the sweets have fallen to my naughty Christmas tummy and I needn’t say
that there was a lot of cups of tea involved in the whole process of baking, decorating and tasting :) And of course, once I came from my Christmas shopping
with a completely new set of a cup and a bowl for myself. Let’s face it, we
ladies all do this! We go out to buy things for others, but there are so many
nice things that we would like too! So I figured one cup and bowl are not going
to hurt anyone ;-)

I ate and
slept a lot (my favourite combination) and did some crafting, but times were
extremely stressful at work – I must admit I have falled a bit behind with the
teaching, thanks to rehearsing for the Christmas school play. My class, who
normally never shuts up (and that’s not being harsh, they simply cannot spend
ten minutes without exchanging information verbally) was quiet like owls and so
cutely nervous… I just loved them so much at that moment. Their performance
lasted something over three minutes and they were wonderful. I was incredibly
happy and proud. This all just reminds me that teaching is a happy job - and so
rewarding!

After this,
just a few days before going to my parents’ in Slovakia, I handcrafted a few
felt decorations that I was giving as a present to my Mum. This year’s presents from me were
very simple and humble (my lawyer brother got her a new laptop – I felt quite
bad then, because my decorations hardly cost anything but time, but Mum keeps
saying that these are two totally incomparable types of presents, so I am coming
to terms with the fact that I am poor, but crafty!).

Right after school finished on Friday, I ran (literally) to the train station to get to Slovakia. I was on a very tight schedule (my own fault) and just hopped into any carriage just to make sure the train doesn’t go away without me. This consequenced into me having to drag my huge suitcase through the three carriages of sleeping compartments and getting told off by a train guard, who made me and a bunch of Slovak students and some Czech guys stand in the corridor in front of the toilets for forty minutes, then get off at the next station and go find our places from the outside of the train. However, the Slovaks immediatelly pulled out bottles of Coke and rum and some toast bread, cheese and ham. For those forty minutes, my suitcase turned into a temporary buffet table and I got a little dinner for free. On the way back, I travelled in the cozy comfy sleeping compartments, which wasn’t nearly as much fun. I don’t know the names of the guys with food, but I would like to thank them for their hospitality and all the fun we had. x

After nine
and half hours of sitting down, I arrived at my parents’ slightly
overdecorated, but lovely home.

It was a
lovely few days, during which I was finishing a Tunisian (or Afghan) crochet
baby blanket. In three months there will be a new baby in my man’s family and I
love the thought of a tiny little human being tucked in it and pulling it with
its little fingers : ) And - surprise, surprise!!! - there was a cup of tea involved as well!

The blanket
was finished before Christmas and I found a lovely snowflake ribbon to tie it
into a bundle with. Can’t wait for the baby, I’m so excited!

We visited
both of our Grandparents and my Czech Grandma made a lunch meal of goose, potato dumplings and
cabbage for us. Then I did some very late cardwriting for my lady penfriends –
this year I managed my time terribly, so I didn’t make any handmade ones like I usually do, but
sent some other ones instead. I still included a little handmade thing to go
with the cards. And of course, I had tea. I love tea, you probably already know
that.

On the 23rd
December, I revived my skiing passion (to the great surprise of everyone in the
family) and headed out to the slope with my Dad, in an outfit combined of my
brother’s and my mother’s equipment and clothes. It was a great hour of
night-time skiing and I didn’t even fall once.

On the 24th
we had a typical Slovak Christmas dinner, consisting of sauerkraut soup with
mushrooms and sausage in it and a second course of a fish (traditionally carp,
but we had trout this year) with some sort of potatoes or potato salad.

I had a magical Christmas time with my family and I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas as well. I got some very useful presents, but I feel like the comfort of being at home, watching Christmas stories on TV and having all that good food and fun with my family was worth much more than the presents.

27 December 2013

On December 5th (yes, the day before Mikuláš), I finally graduated. It did not feel like a huge celebration or relief to me, mostly because I took the final step to finishing my degree in the middle of September and the graduation ceremony took place a few months later, but it was really nice to have my boyfriend and my parents here to watch me receive a diploma and finally get a masters degree in biology. I even had to take a day off work ; )

Much earlier in the year, we started talking about what present I want when I graduate and I said that a bouquet is a must... Then somehow in spring I got into all the bulb plants and my man started joking that he will "just come with a bag of bulbs". I liked the idea and he took it to perfection - he arrived with a BOX of bulbs - 150 bulbs of six different plant species.

I cannot wait to plant them - this is "bouquet" that I will cherish, take care of and that will flower for me for many many years to come. And the best is - I can distribute it to all the places that I love - my mother's little garen behind our block, my boyfriend's parents' garden in the UK and his sister's garden and finally also our own garden once we buy a house, not to mention putting some into a flowerpot and taking them to work to make the mood like spring is coming. I can put them anywhere and even give some as presents and I will still have enough. I love this idea and this man to bits. He knows what I like, even though it is a bit crazy and a bit geeky :)

15 December 2013

I am having a super caffeinated weekend and I woke up way too early this morning, thanks to which I had enough time to clean the flat, the snail tank, do some crafts and witness a few splendid sunlit morning moments in the garden while I was taking out the compost bin. There is something beautiful about standing out there in pyjamas and sweater, stopping to just observe the garden for a minute.

09 December 2013

This last two weeks were incredibly busy with work (meetings with parents, preparing for the school play) and family business (graduation - more about that later - my parents and boyfriend visiting at the same time), so I am feeling pretty tired now, as I sit at home on my bed after having made lesson plans for tomorrow while drinking a cup of delicious Lady Grey Tea.

But the last two weeks did not only bring business. Even though I worked hard and had a lot of social interacting to do (and God knows I'm bad at it when I'm not in the mood for it), I enjoyed every single little moment that I could, cups of tea, knotting bracelets, every single cute thing that my pupils told me, every snowflake that fell onto my coat, every bird that flew around my window, every single stitch that I was able to crochet. We had our first snow, although it only clung to some parts of the landscape and only for a day or so. I made more of my snowflake decorations and even a few of my Christmas-themed items from my Etsy shop sold and are on the way to their new homes now.

Like last year, I tried to make all the Christmas preparations and shopping long before December starts, so I could enjoy my cozy winter time with crafts and good food when everyone else is stressing out, but - oh! - suddenly it is past Mikuláš and I have barely done anything! It must be the job that keeps me busy and prevents me from shopping! Anyway, I mamaged to make some coconut biscuits (out of a ready made bought dough) and the weekend has rewarded me with a beam of sunshine through our kitchen window, so I could take this lovely picture.

01 December 2013

It seems like the nice autumn is gone for good this year. Most trees lost their leaves and those that are still left are dull brown, everything is wet and dark, we leave home for work in the dark and we come home in the dark. My inner mammal wants to sit down with a huge cup of tea (or as my man says - a bucket of tea) and crochet something colourful to cheer me up or curl up under a warm fluffy blanket with a good book (Les Miserables at the moment).

However, I am glad that this autumn was so beautiful, as you could already see from my autumn break post. I enjoyed sitting under the tree, marking some tests from biology, drinking tea and walking Jedi. I played with colours this year, too. It was my Dad's 60th birthday at the end of October, so I made him a handmade birthday card with pictures of the leaves from our garden, a little bit of Nils Udo style.

I am thankful for this lovely season, I learned a lot and the time spent outdoors in nature was magical. I am very happy that I can live in the wild, with blackbirds and cats and crows and hares running around our street. And last night, as I walked home from a coffee meeting with a friend, I met a wild friend that I haven't seen for almost a year. He was walking by the pond, too slow and too round for a rat, so I ran down the hill to have a look. The hedgehog was way too scared to walk around with me there, so I snapped a picture and left him to his evening walk.